Judge Blanche M. Manning was born in December 1934 in Chicago, Illinois.

She received her Bachelor of Education from Chicago Teachers College in 1961, a Juris Doctor from John Marshall Law School in 1967, a Master of Arts from Roosevelt University in 1972, and a Master of Laws from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1992.

Judge Manning attended law school while working as a Chicago Public School teacher. She also taught at Malcolm X Community College and DePaul University College of Law at various points throughout her career. She held many legal positions, including working as an Assistant State's Attorney for the Cook County State's Attorney's Office, supervisory trial attorney at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, general attorney at United Airlines, and Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

From 1979 until 1986, she served as an associate judge, and as a circuit judge from 1986 to 1987, in the Illinois Circuit Court, Cook County. In 1987, she became the first African American woman elected to serve on the Illinois Appellate Court. On May 5, 1994, she was nominated by President William J. Clinton to serve as a district court judge for the United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois. She assumed senior status on February 1, 2010, and retired in 2012. 

Judge Manning was an avid jazz musician, playing the bass saxophone and clarinet in several jazz bands. She assembled the band, Diversity, composed of musicians of diverse backgrounds, and was a member of the the Chicago Bar Association Orchestra. 

Judge Manning's beloved husband, William, passed away in 2004. 

Visitation
Thursday, September 24, 2020
6 - 8 p.m.
Leak & Sons Funeral Homes
18400 Pulaski Road 
Country Club Hills, IL 60478
(708) 206-0860
 
Homegoing 
Friday, September 25, 2020
Wake: 10 - 11 a.m. 
Funeral: 11 a.m. - 12 p.m.
All Nations Community Church
18620 Kedzie Avenue 
Homewood, IL 60430
(708) 799-6910